Chance: Advance to GO!

Garden of the Gods: Alternate framing

Not all craigslist photos are created equal: For Sale 96 Yamaha SecaII 600

Think Tolkien

Think REI?

Out of two dozen photographers on Cannon Beach at sunset, I was the only one who introduced themselves and asked to borrow a wine glass from the kind women on vacation.

I should also mention no other photographers seemed to wet their pants just to get a shot in the surf

One can never begin again, there is no going back. Yet there are second takes, re-shoots, and particularly inspired backup plans.

Welcome to Plan G.

My recent experimental foray in the Pacific NW did not go as hypothesized however it was successful in focusing and intensifying efforts towards bringing me to where I need to be and knowing what I need to do. Many of my previous efforts in professional photography had been well intentioned while lacking in sincerity. There was the hope I could quietly find my niche in the photo market with svelte maneuvers, quietly tiptoeing along with an intentionality filled more with hope than the requisite tenacity.

There are still things I need to figure out.
For example:
What I need to do with my blog - It has allowed for an alternative showcase which need not be as refined as my website, while illustrating the progressive flow of projects both professional and personal. Yet the question is "Why Care". Unless you know me, or met me at a shoot and took a particular interest in what images I captured that day, it's simply not engaging enough and is clearly a failed attempt at marketing. Stay tuned for Ver 2.0

For now I hope to subsidize that which I don't know, or don't have, with a drive fueled by stubborn resilience, a capacity to learn quickly, inherent creativity, and a truly beautiful enigmatic inspiration.

This will be fun...

Eagle Creek #2, Nevermind the forecast

It would appear that the rain expected to last all day was not to be. However it did prove sufficient enough to add character and interest to Saturdays images. If only it would have lasted longer...

Wishing the weather had been cooperative with timing to allow sunset shots at the beach. Next weekend?

Green boats can be red...

In front of us drove a pickup truck with an assortment of kayaks on the topper as well as those hanging out over the tailgate. This is when I learned that although there were indeed three boats of a similar green shade, my friends reference to the three "Green Boats" had nothing to do with the colour, but instead is a class of kayak which is longer than the those I had typically associated with white water.

Anyhow, yesterdays shoot: Although not on short notice, this was one in which I was entering blind. I had never shot kayaking, I had never been to this river, or in fact, ever been to Washington state (this where I was shooting). Due to a series of events, I was unable to get to my vantage point with more than 2 min prior to the first boater. Upon arrival I was greeted by a jumbled chaotic rock surface comprised of water-filled craters and slippery moss going all the way to the edge where a 15 foot vertical plunge would happily send an inattentive photog into the frigidly churning rapids. (I watched a dozen "swimmers" pass by after being forcefully removed from their crafts somewhere up-river).

Next time: Safety lines and more time to prep, I'm already looking forward to it. (And also, vertical rigging to get closer to the water, remote control cable camera trolley, speedlights, etc...)

Chasm Lake: Rocky Mountain National Park

There may be words which I eventually write, but in this brief span of time anything written would fall short of the breathtaking experience which is the ethereal locale below the monolith of Longs Peaks diamond face.

Horsetail Falls, OR

A trail-head on the South Side of the Columbia River Gorge begins the hike up this easy trail meandering behind, around, past, and above many waterfalls. Green ferns, trees, lichens, and other biologicals abound.

Underground and off "trail", again

Photogenic water and calcite

Wilkerson Pass CO sunset

Calcite and water, and dirt

While bringing my blog up to date I will limit the quantity of photos and length of posts to that which is likely to hold attention. Being that this is the "information age" attention spans are best measured with micrometers...

Glenwood Caverns in Glenwood Springs CO, if you're near there, go there. As a caver even the tourist part is worthwhile, (However these formations were shot off trail after lugging the standard cumbersome gear through typical cave passages)

Lastly, enjoy the journey. Most anywhere in CO west of I-25 is beautiful, and come sunset take a few moments and smell the tundra. (Which doesn't smell, but doing so will make you get out of your Subaru)

For better or worse blogging is harder than shooting

Field surveyor at Sunset Beach CA

Foggy track which would have looked amazing with oncoming train

CityROCK climbing gym

New(ish) terrain at CityROCK climbing gym

Mt. Hood OR

I've always been able to keep up with my photo projects, however my photo blog is another story. This is a story which occurs in a place and time where internet is not as prevalent as it once was. Here there are many more obligations, here there are many more leads and projects, and of course there are the ever present distractio..... oooooh look shiny, must photograph..

Anyhow after settling in (relatively) to a new routine, or at least adjusting to the absence of my last, updates ought to be be frequent with a slightly different style.(And still refining the use and development of additional media)

The above are a random assortment of images from the far side of my lens over the past few months.

Mountain bike Nationals kick-off with "24hours of Colorado Springs"

This past weekend Colorado Springs hosted the first race of mountain biking nationals with the "24 hours of Colorado Springs". Racers cruised through Palmer Park on a 13mile loop, beginning at noon on Saturday and continuing straight through 'till noon on Sunday.

(Names will be added after I receive the list of plate numbers, or individuals are identified in comments.)

Silent Splendor, Worth every bruise, cut, and scrape

To get there I was crawling face-down in mud for almost as long as I spent shooting. The trip was going to be memorable long before we arrived in the large cavern with intricately ornate gypsum crystals.

This is Silent Splendor.

This is where drawing upon my last cave photo experience I managed to thin down my gear to only 35 lbs (before coating it with a half ton of mud for the trip out). Far preferable to the ~65 lbs of gear used in Swirling Mist, and especially appreciated when it came time to haul everything up the 30 foot vertical mud chimney.

Thank you again to Denyse an Laura, my most patient and helpful caving compatriots w/o whom such trip would have not only have been impossible (access is VERY restricted), but also not nearly as successful. (...and fun!)

Not my first bike race, ProCycling Palmer Park 50

Shad Shreiner

Bruce Miller

Lindsey Watson

Russell Finsterwald

Russel Finsterwald (left), Shad Shreiner (center), & Rob Sousa (right)

Jonathan Rowell

As a precursor to the upcoming 24hour race in Palmer Park, the ProCycling Palmer Park 50 (with 25mile option) was a great way to spend a beautiful fall morning. Mind you not your average fall morning, with temps easily in the mid seventies, but beautiful none-the-less.